Lean For Everyone

Lean: The greater the change the more critical the transition plan - Integrated Busing

The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) played a significant role  in the transition from segregated to desegregated busing.

 

On my recent trip to the Henry Ford Museum I snapped these pictures to remind myself that the greater the change, the more important the transition plan is.

Images taken at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI (2011)

Lean Movies: "The Untouchables" (1987) - What does it take to be a change agent?

Kevin Costner played the change agent Eliott Ness and what better champion to have at your side than Sean Connery.

 

Remember to bring your lean tools

I'm not implying that you need to get your OE team outfitted with shotguns and "gats".  All you probably need to start is some 5 Why's and a fishbone diagram.

Problem:  Just having a bunch of lean tools isn't going to achieve lasting change.  Culture, culture, culture.....it's all about company culture.

You need to eliminate a culture of fear and create a culture of change.

 

Do you have a Capone in your organization?

"Everybody knows where the booze is. The problem isn't finding it, the problem is who wants to cross Capone."- Sean Connery

Capone will act like an upstanding citizen of change in leadership meetings but behind the scenes he will try to keep the "status quo". 

He will bad mouth Continuous Improvement and tell his team to go through the motions but not to waste their time on it.  His opinion is that your just another change agent...your not "Untouchable".

 

"Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history." - Joan Wallach Scott

Looking at your entire process in a VSM is just like a scrambled word.

As lnog as you hvae the erinte prosces mepapd you wlil be albe to undnaretsd it.

"According to a researcher at an English university, it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that first and last letter is at the right place.  The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problem.  This is because we do not read every letter by itself but the word as a whole."
 -Languagehat

Always look at your process as a whole.

When beginning any improvement activity you should first have a view of your entire process.

Many companies just focus their attention on "squeaky wheel" issues and never understand their entire system.  By looking how value moves through an entire process stream you can then make informed decisions on how to improve it.

If you are only looking at part of the process, then you are only understanding part of the problem.

 

Wehn careintg a vaule stearm map alawys strat form the end and wrok bkcdawars.

When doing a VSM you start from the end of your process (the customer or shipping dock) and work upstream,  mapping each part till you reach the beginning.

Starting from the end is crucial so that you have that "last letter" in your VSM.  If you need some help doing your VSM use SIPOC diagramming to get you started.

By creating a current state Value Stream Map (VSM) you will be able to see the beginning, middle and end of the process.  This leads to a solid understanding of you  system and the foundation for improvements.

 

If you want to scramble your own words here is the link to a good scrambler application. If you want to unscramble your process then start with a Value Stream Map.

The secret to Lean is as easy as counting the number of "F's" in this sentence.

Count the number of 'F's in the following text:

---------------------------------------

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

--------------------------------------

 

Old habits are hard to break.

Did you come up with 3 "F"s ?  I did when I first tried this little test.

If you answered 3 like most people,  then you made the same simple mistake the rest of us did.

Why?  Because your brain has been trained to interpret words a specific way.

 

Train your brain to solve problems in an alternative way.  Lean Thinking!!

By teaching your brain to see things from a different perspective you will quickly uncover issues that have been plaguing your company for years.

Once you realize that mass production, batch processing, silos, inventory, over production and work in process are wasteful items, you will have your "A-Ha" moment.  This is called seeing with "lean eyes".

ANSWER:

There are 6 "F's" in the sentence.

How certain were you that there were 3?  Do you have the same certainty about your company's processes?  Maybe it's time for some alternative thinking.

What it takes to be a Lean change agent in a company.

How does change come about?  What does it take to create change?

Simple answer:  It takes one person sticking their neck out and someone else saying...."That makes sense to me!!".  Here is a fun video from Derek Sivers that explains in simple terms.

Lean for Everyone will be on The Lean Nation!! May 10th 4-5pm (ET)

I will be a guest on The Lean Nation radio show on Monday May 10^th,  from 4-5pm (ET) on 790 AM Talk and Business, hosted by Karl Wadensten.  

For those of you who missed it.  Here is the podcast

We're going to discuss how Lean and Continuous Improvement can be used to improve your life inside and outside the workplace.  Lean isn’t just for companies, Lean is for Everyone

You can listen to my appearance live on 790AM (Citadel Broadcasting, ABC Affiliate) in Providence, RI.  The show is also globally available via a live audio stream at 790business.com.   

Got an opinion or a question….call in to the show.  The call-in number is 401-437-5000 or toll free at 888-345-0790.

Can’t tune in live?  The podcast will be available after the show!

The Lean Nation is the hottest new show on 790AM and airs from 4-5pm, weekdays and streams online at 790business.com.  The Lean Nation features real world examples and actionable advice from local and national business leaders on how to reinvent yourself into a lean operation in business and in life. 

The show's host, Karl Wadensten, is the president of VIBCO, a Rhode Island manufacturing company. Over the last 3 years VIBCO has created a Lean Revolution, using lean methodologies (based on the Toyota Production System).

Lean on TV: Super Nanny A Lean Transformation in Action

You can have a Lean transformation in your home life and Jo Frost you shows how every week on Super Nanny FRIDAYS 8|7c on ABC

 

If you've never watched Super Nanny and you are a practitioner of Lean then you are in for a treat.  Much like TV's Kitchen Nightmares this show is an excellent example of a Lean transformation but from the perspective of top down leadership and organizational change.

Jojo (Jo Frost) watches the family dynamics in action...a "gemba walk"  She observes the family interact through a typical day and notes how the parents schedule the day with the children and how teaching and discipline is administered, all of which is video taped.

Mom and Dad are the "executive leadership" of the household and need to learn how to be good leaders.  Super Nanny reviews some of the footage with the parents, highlighting key issues in their leadership skills.  Inconsistent discipline, no clear expectations and lack of communication between the parents and the kids usually plays a key part.

Jojo then gives the parents some training and tools to help learn the skills needed.  Examples: A set of house rules posted up on a wall (visual workplace) that both the parents and kids promise to follow.(commitment to improve).  Clear expectations given to the kids and consistent disciplinary actions so the kids understand what happens when rules aren't followed (standardized work).

Super Nanny then reviews the implementation with the executive leadership. The parents then use the skills on their own and are reviewed (video tape) on how well they implemented and what was done correctly and what still needs work.

I very much enjoy this show because it is an excellent example of how most companies work today.  Top down leaders who bark orders inconsistently, leaders not on the same page as to expectations and poor communication between management and staff.  The staff without proper guidance just does what they know and what they have always done. Whether good or bad, employees behave this way because of inconsistent expectations, standards and disciplinary actions.

In simple terms:

What we permit we promote.

We deserve what we tolerate.

Communication is King.

I think Super Nanny would agree.